


Walking Into Spiderwebs

by amine



Series: Gen X and Gen Z [18]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Light Angst, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 02:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16756132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amine/pseuds/amine
Summary: "Tony flinched at the indirect mention of Peter, who he’d been carefully avoiding since The Incident a couple months prior. He knew that a large part of why he looked so terrible was that that little sunshine pain in the ass hadn’t been around him at all. For as much as Peter’s antics took several years off his life, knowing Peter Parker had had an overwhelmingly net positive effect on him. Of course abruptly taking that away would wreck him."





	Walking Into Spiderwebs

“With all due respect, boss, you look like shit.”

Tony turned an incredulous look to the front of the car, catching Happy’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Thank you for your brilliant and tactful observation, Happy. Please remember to bring this up next time we’re discussing you getting a promotion. I want to make sure it factors into my decision.”

Happy let out a little scoff and shook his head at Tony’s blistering sarcasm, but he briefly looked back and made eye contact with Tony through the rearview mirror again. “He’s blowing up my phone again, boss. I can only ignore and deflect for so long.”

Tony flinched at the indirect mention of Peter, who he’d been carefully avoiding since The Incident a couple months prior. He knew that a large part of why he looked so terrible was that that little sunshine pain in the ass hadn’t been around him at all. For as much as Peter’s antics took several years off his life, knowing Peter Parker had had an overwhelmingly net positive effect on him. Of course abruptly taking that away would wreck him.

“Get better at your deflection skills then.” He tried to go back to being indifferent, but just thinking about Peter unsettled him. He stared out the window, going into full-blown brood mode.

Happy was definitely looking back at him, though, judging by the heavy silence that passed between them. Tony hoped that the silence would continue, and he could eventually take his mind off a certain spider child.

He should have known better than to expect Happy to let it go. He was almost as attached to Peter as Tony was.

“He misses you. He’s worried that you hate him. He stopped a major bank robbery and saved a kitten at the same time.”

He missed Peter, too. He didn’t think he was capable of even slightly disliking Peter. He’d watched the footage of that botched bank robbery, and Peter’s delight over the kitten had warmed his heart. He just really didn’t want to think about any of that.

“Let it go, Happy.”

“Boss—”

“Let. It. Go. Hogan.” He ended the conversation by raising the divider and running a hand over his face.

It should have been any other mission to take out hostile but incredibly inept aliens, and it had been until one of them had struck him with something just before it was vaporized. Tony realized a second too late that whatever he’d been hit with, it had hacked into his suit, causing F.R.I.D.A.Y. to go offline and for the suit to act of its own accord.

Acting of its own accord meant that he’d immediately targeted Peter, who had swung down to celebrate and cheer about how _cool_ it was to take out those aliens. He never would have expected what was about to happen.

Tony could only helplessly watch in horror as the suit attacked Peter with every bit of tech that he’d put into it. He’d alternated between shouting every protocol he could think of that would disengage the suit, trying to get F.R.I.D.A.Y. back online, and begging Peter to _take him out, damn it_ because although he tried his webbing, he refused to fight back or even run away.

Then one of the nanoblades materialized, and Tony could only hear a ringing in his ears as Peter froze at the sight of it. Even with the mask on, he could sense the terror on Peter’s face as the suit swung the blade at Peter’s neck.

“ _Peter_!!”

“Got it, boss!”

F.R.I.D.A.Y. regained control, disengaging the suit and stopping the swing of the blade mere millimeters from Peter’s neck. Half a moment passed before Peter fainted from shock, and Tony only just barely caught him in time before he hit the ground.

He was there when Peter woke up later, but when Tony smiled and approached him, Peter’s eyes widened in horror and he recoiled away from Tony.

Tony left immediately after and hadn’t seen him since.

He knew better than anyone that it was impossible to get the image of someone you’d trusted with your life about to kill you out of your head. 

That Peter had been the one trying to reach out after that made Tony feel sick. He could easily see Peter blaming himself—Happy had confirmed as much by saying that Peter was afraid Tony hated him. That kid was really too kind for his own good, and Tony wished sometimes that he’d never taken Spider-Man of Queens and swept him up into the superhero business. Or, at least, he wished that someone else besides him had taken Peter under their wing. He was too much of a mess to be a good mentor.

He was broken out of his thoughts by his phone ringing, and he felt the blood drain from his face when he saw that it was May Parker calling. He could ignore it, but then she’d just drive to the compound again and rip him a new one. He’d thought Pepper was the most terrifying person on the planet when angry, but May gave her a run for her money. 

With a shaking hand, he accepted the call and held the phone to his ear. “Hey, May. What can I do for you?”

“Are you going to tell me why you’re ignoring Peter?”

Her voice was disturbingly even in tone, which meant that she could probably kill him through the phone if she wanted to. He chuckled and shrugged, even though she wouldn’t see it. “Ignoring him? What gave you that idea?”

“Oh, don’t lie to me, Stark. Outwardly he’s just as cheerful and hardworking as ever, but I’m practically his mother, so I notice these things. He’s dejected and quiet because his biggest hero won’t talk to him anymore.”

Tony flinched again, the reality that other people were noticing Peter’s discontent cutting deep. It was hard to resist the urge to call Peter and just pick up where they’d left off. He knew that Peter wouldn’t hold a grudge. Honestly, that part was why he wanted to stay away even more. Peter shouldn’t let him get away with things.

“I think it’s better for everyone if Peter didn’t come around here anymore. He’s a great hero already and a brilliant scientist. He doesn’t need my guidance anymore, if he ever did to begin with.”

“I want to agree with you, but you know very well he doesn’t just see you as a mentor. You mean a lot to him.”

Tony sat in silence, trying to find the words to refute that assertion, but he knew that it was true. As he struggled to think of something to say, he heard May sigh.

“Anyway, luckily Colonel Rhodes is better at this kind of thing than you, so he’s taking Peter to the compound now. He’ll probably be there waiting when you get back.”

Tony blinked. “ _What_?”

A dial tone was his answer, and he stared at his phone in shock. This couldn’t be happening. Just as he was about to tell Happy to turn around, the car stopped in front of the compound, where Peter was sitting on one of the walls, waiting. Tony clutched at his head and mentally reminded himself that he owed Rhodey a very big _favor_ later as he stepped out of the car. He slipped on his glasses as Peter jumped off the wall and approached him.

“Hey, kid.”

Rather than a sunny smile, Peter’s face was set in a deep frown. He hadn’t been on the receiving end of Peter’s anger since the ferry incident, and it felt foreign and unsettling. Still, he tried to play it cool as he gave Happy a look. Happy nodded and took off in the car, and Tony reached out to put his arm around Peter’s shoulders to lead him into the compound, but he was immediately shrugged off.

When they got inside, Peter whirled around and glared at him. “Why do you keep blowing me off? You did this before and I got a building dropped on me. You could at least explain _why_ instead of treating me like some dumb kid you can just ghost on a whim!”

He’d lost count of how many times he’d flinched that day, and he took off his glasses to run a hand over his face. He replaced the glasses and gave Peter the best detached look he could muster. “I’m not going to keep entertaining you, kid. I’m not saying I want to take away the suit again or stop you from being Spider-Man or anything like that. I just think...no—I _know_ that you have a glaring weakness in me. I’m not going to be your liability. You’re better off finding another mentor or going it solo.”

He knew because outside of Pepper, Peter was his most exploitable weakness. He shuddered to think of what would happen if anyone with a particular agenda found out just how much Peter meant to him. Honestly, his remaining grasp on his sanity was tenuous as it was. Peter turning to dust in his hands had broken him. Peter dying because someone found out that Tony loved him would destroy him.

Peter looked a mixture of devastated and angry, though the anger was shining through more as he clenched his fists and flared his nostrils.

“No offense, Mr. Stark, but that’s bullshit.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, surprised, and Peter shrank back for a moment before he stood defiant again. 

“You’re my mentor for a reason, Mr. Stark. I can’t just replace you.”

Tony sighed. He wanted to believe that, but he knew very well that Peter viewed him through a hero-worshipping lens. It was the same point-of-view he had for all the Avengers. “You only say that because I got to you first. If Cap had been the one to recruit you for his team, you would have joined him and beaten me up with a second thought.”

There was no response, and Peter just looked at him like he’d been caught in his bluff. Tony closed his eyes and shook his head. The conversation was over.

But then it wasn’t. “No offense again, but that really is bullshit, Mr. Stark.”

“Please don’t let your aunt know that you’re using that language around me, kid.” Somewhere Steve Rogers was laughing his ass off, with Tony policing a kid’s language when his vocabulary had been far more colorful at the same age. 

Peter finally smiled for an instant, but then his expression turned stern again. 

“I wouldn’t have done that because it wouldn’t have been the same. You were my hero before there ever was such a thing as the Avengers. You were my hero before there was ever an _Iron Man_. I've always wanted to be Tony Stark. You just got even cooler when you became a superhero.”

“You sure picked a shitty hero to have then, kid.”

What had his life even been before he’d become Iron Man? What had his life been before the sunshine pain in the ass in front of him had come into his life? An even bigger mess. A series of pathetic mishaps and trying and failing to prove himself hidden behind arrogance and a lot of money. That was still his life, honestly, but he occasionally got things right.

“No, I didn’t.” Peter just sounded petulant then, like the kid he really was defending his hero, and Tony scoffed. Peter straightened up again and frowned. “Is this about what happened before? I know… _you_ know you’d never actually hurt me. I had a runny nose and Karen activated some protocol that wiped my nose for me. I’m surprised that my suit isn’t just several layers of bubble wrap. Hell, you try _too_ hard to keep me from getting hurt.”

The bubble wrap idea _had_ crossed his mind, but he wouldn’t mention that part. He also wouldn’t mention that he’d been in talks with T’Challa for some vibranium he could use to make an even safer suit for Peter to use. That wasn’t the point, though, and Tony returned the frown.

“Maybe _I_ wouldn’t, but there are plenty of people out there who _would_ hurt you because of me, kid. If you die, that’s on me, remember? You’ve got a great big target on your back that just attracts people looking to get to me through the people I love. You can ask Pepper all about it.”

Peter looked ready to burst, but he just yelled in response. “I can take care of myself!”

Frustrated, Tony yelled back. “Exactly! Which is why you need to go off on your own!”

“No! You’re part of my family now, Mr. Stark!” Peter threw his hands in the air and collapsed on a couch, looking tired and defeated. “And I’m... _tired_ of losing family members.”

Of course. There had been Peter’s parents, dead when he was still just a little boy. His uncle Ben, dead shortly after Peter had been bitten by that spider. People he’d loved with all his heart, ripped away from him in the cruelest ways. He knew, no matter how much he tried to deny it because he hated dealing with those types of feelings, that Peter had co-opted him as part of his family. 

“And _I_ don’t want to see you hurt because of me, kid.”

Peter let out a humorless laugh and shook his head. “You’re giving yourself way too much importance, Mr. Stark. And not giving me enough credit.”

His pre-Iron Man life had been full of people he’d slighted who would love nothing more than to kidnap people like Pepper, Rhodey, Happy or Peter and torture them just to watch Tony squirm. Hell, his current Iron Man life was full of those people, too. Peter was just too young and idealistic to understand that. 

Peter spoke up again before Tony could say any of those things, and he gave Tony a wry smile. “You’re not getting rid of me, Mr. Stark. I’m very good at sticking to things and not above being a piece of shit clinging to you.”

Before he could stop himself, Tony let out a bark of a laugh. That prompted a genuine smile, and, as if proving his point, Peter got up and threw himself at Tony.

“You look horrible, Mr. Stark. I think you miss me, too.” The words were muffled by Tony’s blazer, and Tony could tell that Peter really was sticking to him. The little shit.

“I finally got rid of the biggest thorn in my side, why would I miss you?” He hugged Peter back anyway, pressing his face to Peter’s hair and closing his eyes. He just wanted the rush of touchy-feely hormones, that was all.

“I’m really not going to let you go, Mr. Stark.”

“I noticed. You can explain to Pepper and the rest of the board why I have a teenager stuck to me when I have to go to a meeting tomorrow.”

“Just tell them it’s the newest Gen Z fad. All you Baby Boomers will just shrug it off because you’re too old to get it.”

“How dare you. You’re definitely disowned.”

Peter chuckled, but then he lifted his head to give Tony a wary look. “We’re good now, right? You’ll let me call you and message you about the puppies I save and the churros I get for helping old ladies? We’ll hang out again?”

Tony sighed. “I don’t know if we’re ‘good’ exactly.” Even so, he lifted a hand to ruffle Peter’s hair with a resigned smile. “But I was an idiot to think I could actually get rid of you.”

That seemed to be enough for Peter, who squeezed him just a little too tight while Tony wheezed. Although he chuckled and returned the squeeze, he frowned to himself. 

He’d just have to be careful to not let his spider child-sized weakness show. There was no doubt that someone, somewhere, would love nothing more than to have another weapon like that at their disposal. Peter was strong and capable, but Tony knew better than to underestimate anyone’s abilities. 

He pressed his face to Peter’s hair again as he swore to himself that he’d never have to see that terrified look of a hurt and dying Peter Parker ever again if he could help it.


End file.
